S03.E01: Punjab, India

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Punjab is the Sikh Holy Land, and is also India's agricultural breadbasket. In the Season 3 premiere of "Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown," Tony takes a chaotic cab ride to a roadside vegetarian food stall, witnesses a Pehlwani match -- which is an Indian style of wrestling, and visits the only official dividing line between India and Pakistan to watch a sunset ceremony dubbed a "carefully choreographed contempt," in which thousands of spectators shout cheers for their "side." Tony also takes a death-defying train ride into the Land of the Gods in the foothills of the Himalayas, among many other adventures throughout Punjab's unknown parts.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I have such a love/hate relationship with Bourdain (heh, entirely one-sided, of course) and this episode gave some great examples of why. Although I'm an omnivore who dislikes a lot of vegetables (it's faster to list the handful of vegetable that I'm willing to eat), I don't go around constantly talking shit about vegetables and vegetarians the way he does. While I'm sure he was telling the truth about the vegetarian dishes he ate in India being delicious, of course he had to use that as a way to complain about vegetarian dishes elsewhere (which of course leads me to wonder just how often he tries vegetarian dishes that he's so convinced of them being horrible).

Even though I'm not vegetarian, I often order vegetable side dishes at restaurants. I've had delicious kale, broccoli, and caulifower dishes at Italian restaurants. My mom loves meat and seafood but she always orders certain vegetable dishes at her favorite Chinese restaurant. I am nowhere near being a vegetarian (I hate almost every vegetable on earth) but it annoys me that Bourdain insists on painting vegetarians as people trying to force soybean mush on him.

You know what else is a vegetarian dish? Pasta with pesto sauce or marinara. Good old macaroni and cheese. Real Italian pizza with just tomatoes, olive oil, and a little bit of mozzarella. Tortilla chips and salsa. Grilled cheese sandwiches. Quesadillas. When someone like Bourdain is so insistent that all vegetarian food is awful, it make me give him a pretty long side eye because he's just being close-minded and judgmental. And even though I'm probably supposed to think that he's being such a big guy for complimenting the vegetarian food he had in Punjab, it makes me think the opposite. One of the dishes he was complimenting was just a curry without meat which is something you can get at most Thai or Indian restaurants in the world. I won't deny that I'd rather have a curry or quesadilla with meat, but I'd eat either without the meat and ta-da, vegetarian dish!

Bourdain likes to talk about what a rebel he is, how he supports the liberal left, but serve him dinner in a fancy house and he's halfway to being an imperalist apologist.

Despite my tirade, I'm glad this show is back. I have to admit that seeing that harrowing ride to the village convinced me I never need to go there. I would be crying in terror!

Edited April 15, 2014 by ElectricBoogaloo

[Bella]

I'm not quite as anti-vegetable as you are, ElectricBoogaloo, but I'm definitely nowhere near being a vegetarian. And I agree, Bourdain, for all his good traits, really does carry on to great excess about this. I'm wondering if it might go back to when he was a chef. Otherwise, why does he care so much? It takes away from an otherwise good show.

[Dagny]

I finally caught up with this episode. You have to watch the Bollywood restaurant dance scene. Yes, it was staged, but it was the best thing of the episode!  It made up for his normal sullen and moody self. Was it my imagination or did he not drink as much during this episode.

[Ms.Sherlock]

I was so happy that there are new eps. of Parts Unknown. It occasionally airs here on cable, but when I saw it appear on my alternative viewing site I was very excited. The other reason that I was excited was because AB would be dealing with one of my favourite cuisines; Indian vegetarian.

I’m guessing that the reason that he bitches about vegetarian is the same reason that many chefs do, it’s a limited diet which can be tricky. A Chef or restaurant owner knows that it is far easier to design a menu for people without preferences or allergies. All I know is that after viewing this I ordered 6 vego dishes from my favourite Indian restaurant and enjoyed every bite.

[Athena]

I think Bourdain's hate of vegetarians and vegetarianism comes from more than one source, but being a chef definitely contributes. He worked and lived in a town when vegetarian food in the USA was not the best and there was a big backlash against meat culture and saturated fats. In any case, Indian vegetarian food is really some of the best in the world so I always just like him giving credit to the cuisine. I enjoyed how they used music through this episode.